Author: icsswpadmin

Midwestern Marx, a Marxist educational Institute originally organized in the midwestern United States, considers the working class to be at the heart of the revolutionary struggle in the US, and as such are dedicated to eliminating the divide between Socialists and the US working class. They publish the Journal of American Socialist Studies, books and articles on the struggle for socialism in the US, have a website at midwesternmarx.com, and a YouTube channel MidwesternMarx that offers video interviews, discussions on theory, political analysis, and live shows to over twenty-five thousand subscribers.

Carlos L. Garrido- “The Comprehensive Crisis in the U.S. and the Revolutionary Way Forward”

In line with the tradition of Marxism-Leninism, this presentation argues that the elements constitutive of objectively revolutionary conditions are all present in the U.S.; what is missing for a successful revolutionary movement is the subjective factor. The presenter will argue that the purity fetish which predominates the outlook of modern American communism has presented a fundamental fetter for the development of the subjective factor in the American working masses; the development of a consistent dialectical materialist worldview, it will be argued, is the precondition for the advancement of the subjective conditions.

Edward Liger Smith- “The Crisis of American Healthcare Post-Covid-19.”

This presentation will provide an analysis of how corporate investors used the pandemic to maximize their profits and how the U.S. left missed a chance to critique these predatory practices. An argument will be made towards a class centered analysis of American healthcare and its place in the struggle for socialism in the U.S.

Carlos L. Garrido is a Cuban American PhD student and instructor in philosophy at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale (with an M.A. in philosophy from the same institution). His research focuses include Marxism, Hegel, early 19th century American socialism, and socialism with Chinese characteristics. He is an editor in Midwestern Marx Institute for Marxist Theory and Political Analysis and in the Journal of American Socialist Studies. His popular writings have appeared in dozens of socialist magazines in various languages. As a political analyst with a focus on Latin America (esp. Cuba), he has appeared in dozens of radio and video interviews around the world. He also edited and introduced Marxism and the Dialectical Materialist Worldview: An Anthology of Classical Marxist Texts on Dialectical Materialism (Midwestern Marx Publishing Press, 2022).

Edward Liger Smith is an American Political Scientist and specialist in anti-imperialist and socialist projects, especially Venezuela and China. He also has research interests in the role southern slavery played in the development of American and European capitalism. He is currently a graduate student, assistant, and wrestling coach at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.

John Willich was a Prussian army career officer who quit after 25 years to become a carpenter. He was a German 48er who formed the proletarian army in the German Revolution with Friedrich Engels as second-in-command. He was exiled to England, where he joined Marx and Engels. Polemics between Willich and Marx-Engels led to his joining an opposing communist faction. In the 1850s he emigrated to the US where he become involved in communist clubs. He was an abolitionist who worked with free African Americans. In the Civil War, he started an innovative and highly praised German regiment. Conclusion: along with other Germans, he brought communism to the US—way before the Russian revolution.

Al Sargis founded the Friedrich-Engels Institute of Marxist War and Military Analysis, an informational outlet at the NPML. His presentations on this and other subjects have been made at the Chinese Academy of Military Science and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, among other venues, including the ICSS.​

This is planned to be a hybrid meeting on Zoom and at the NPML.

Written by 55 of the richest white men, and signed by only 39 of them, the US constitution is the sacred text of American nationalism. Popular perceptions of it are mired in idolatry, myth and misinformation – many Americans have opinions on the constitution but have little idea what it says.
Our speaker’s new book examines the constitution for what it is – a rulebook for elites to protect capitalism from democracy. Social movements have misplaced faith in the constitution as a tool for achieving justice when it actually impedes social change through the many roadblocks and obstructions we call ‘checks and balances’. This stymies urgent progress on issues like labour rights, poverty, public health and climate change, propelling the American people and rest of the world towards destruction.
Robert Ovetz’s reading of the constitution shows that the system isn’t broken. Far from it. It works as it was designed.

Our speaker, Robert Ovetz, is a Senior Lecturer in Political Science at San José State University, California, USA. He is the author of the new book We the Elites: Why the US Constitution Serves the Few (Pluto, 2022). His previous publications include When Workers Shot Back: Class Conflict from 1877 to 1921, and he was the editor of Workers’ Inquiry and Global Class Struggle. He is the book review editor of the Journal of Labor and Society and writes about labor for Dollars & Sense magazine.

The ICSS has hosted a number of Marxist intellectuals addressing imperialism and how is it manifest in the Ukraine conflict. There is a broad consensus on the left against weapons for endless war and for diplomacy to end the war in Ukraine – a conflict that risks nuclear conflagration. Progressive groups like the Peace In Ukraine Coalition (https://www.peaceinukraine.org/) oppose spending for militarism and support funds for jobs, healthcare, and housing. InPeace Talks Essential as War Rages on in Ukraine (https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/09/05/peace-talks-essential-war-rages-ukraine), Benjamin and Davies write how the US and its allies sabotaged a possible peace agreement in the early stages of the conflict and argue that one is needed more than ever.

The ICSS is honored to host scholar and activist Greg Godels in this continuing discussion. His recent article Imperialism Revisited (https://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/2022/08/imperialism-revisited.html) investigates various historical and contemporary interpretations and applications of Lenin’s theory of imperialism and how it relates to Russia’s role in the Ukraine conflict. Greg argues: “The tendency to see Russia as a non-participant in the imperialist game is somewhat understandable, but mistaken.”

Our speaker, Greg Godels, grew up in a working-class family in a rural coalmining community in the United States. He joined the Communist Party in 1975 and served on the Economics Commission CPUSA until Vic Perlo’s death in 1999. He wrote frequently for the Daily World and other Communist Party papers as well as Political Affairs and Nature, Society and Thought. Articles by him have also appeared in numerous publications, including Communist Review (London), People’s Voice (Vancouver) and Socialist Voice (Dublin). He was joint founder of the website Marxism-Leninism Today and writes a highly regarded blog under the pen name Zoltan Zigedy

Participants may want to prepare by reading Greg’s article, Imperialism Revisited, on his blog at zzs-blg.blgspotat

Our speakers, Roger Keeran and Thomas Kenny will discuss their book, Socialism Betrayed: Behind the Collapse of the Soviet Union (2004), and their reflections since writing the book, including Gorbachev’s role in overturning socialism in the Soviet Union, why he arose, whether this was inevitable, and what lessons are to be learned.

Roger Keeran is Professor Emeritus at Empire State School of the State University of New York (SUNY), He has been a member of the Communist Party USA for three decades and is currently a member of the advisory board of the Marxist journal Science & Society.

Joe Jamison (Thomas Kenny) is co-author with Roger Keeran of Socialism Betrayed: Behind the Collapse of the Soviet Union. He is a retired labor economist, member of the U.S. Peace Council and Editor of Marxism-Leninism Today (mltoday. com).